He's been above average at worse when he took them consistently AND the defense wasn't giving him that look. He's a great shooter period. His form is sound. He would knock down open mid range shots consistently.
So why don't defenses employ this tactic on Curry and Durant? If mid range shots are always bad shots, then it would work theoretically on them. Mid range shots are less efficient than inside the paint shots and 3 pt shots. Just like a running play generates less yards per attempt than a passing play but coaches still call running plays.
bingo. the smart play is to obviously get the most efficient shot. but not every one here is a smart player. clearly illustrated in this thread
The Jazz are one of the 2-3 best defensive teams in the NBA. That is why the Rockets offensive efficiency went down. Even with all of that, the Rockets scored nearly 108 points a game in the series and held the Jazz to under 100 points a game. The Rockets don't get credit for the Jazz missing shots from outside? Likewise, did the Rockets just miss shots from the outside, or was that because it was defended by the Jazz? If the Jazz had a top 5 player in the league, they wouldn't be the same team..... they likely would have won the West during the regular season and may be favorites over the Rockets. You can **** in one hand and wish in the other. We deal with what we have and what we know......... which is that the Rockets are 6-1 against a team that went 31-10 during the regular season during that same stretch. The defense that the Warriors deploy will be different than the Jazz. Every match up is different. The flow of the game will be different.
That's apples to oranges. There's no Curry/Durant counter part to Harden on the Rockets. You can't game plan a whole defensive scheme, like the Jazz did to Harden, to stop one of them when you still have the other.
Because Curry is a great passer surrounded by 2 of best shooters in the NBA and Durant is 7ft tall and can get his shot off against anyone AND is surrounded by 2 of the best shooters in NBA history.
So in situations when 1 of those three are one the bench resting, which is a large portion of the game, this gimmick defense would work?
The Rockets won the series 4-1...... in large part because of James Harden, and the incredible amount of attention he drew from the defense. If Russ Westbrook had a TS of 53% against a team that designed their entire defense to stop him, and was a top 3 defense in the league, and the Thunder won the series 4-1...... no one would think a damn thing. A team can limit just about any single player on the court if they are willing to pay the price.
I actually agree with this, most players on this team are not good enough shotmakers to take many midrange shots. But Harden isn't one of them, and he definitely needs to diversify his offense. #1 reason of Harden struggling in the playoffs is because Harden always has some kind of routine that becomes very repetitive, and great defensive teams can always come up with clever plans to disrupt that routine.
Good point. They are guarding Harden’s midrange like you would guard Capela’s 3 point shot. They are just giving it to him. Wide open. Daring him to take it. It’s very insulting and it’s definitely getting in his head.
Sorry man, but this is just not true. The evidence tells us otherwise. He is not as good from the midrange as you think he is. Hardens shooting percentages and attempts, per year, from midrange- 09- 38.6% on 114 attempts 10- 40.2% on 97 attempts 11- 40.0% on 60 attempts 12- 33.5% on 215 attempts 13- 40.6% on 224 attempts 14- 37.3% on 276 attempts 15- 40.5% on 316 attempts 16- 41.1% on 158 attempts 17- 39.1% on 128 attempts 18- 42.0% on 81 attempts
So when one of those 3 all time great shooters is on the bench, which is a significant portion of the game, this defensive gimmick would work on the Warriors? Because in this situation either Durant or Curry are going to be the primary ball handler which means there will only be one elite shooter waiting at the three point line which a defense can compensate for when this gimmick is employed. When defenses employ this gimmick, most likely one of Gordon or CP3 are waiting out in the 3 pt line. Defenses do not want to leave either of these guys open also.
I think Harden is a good enough shooter to make open ones. Again, we are acting like Harden is the Ben Simmons of the mid range.
